Tiny Town & Railroad — Attraction in Aspen Park

I believe that I best summed up my experience in Tiny Town with this essay I wrote for my AP Literature class. It may be a longer read, but I promise that it will give you the most accurate expectations for your journey through Tiny Town:

Despite being a Coloradan for a solid decade, you would not be able to tell from my personality, hobbies, and general experiences that I live in Colorado. For instance, the last time I skied was probably 9 years ago and I did not enjoy it. I don’t have an affinity for the mountains or mountain-related activities and scenery. I much prefer to walk around my neighborhood for nature experiences than hike at a higher altitude. Additionally, I have never been to Casa Bonita to see the famous cliff divers or eat their infamous food. However, despite my many shortcomings as a Coloradan, I embarked on a journey in the fall of 2021 to feel more connected with the Coloradan inside of me.

The journey began with Tiny Town, a small, old community hidden in the foothills of Morrison. It is a beloved Colorado attraction complete with little buildings, picnic tables (which were a little bit infested with wasps), and a little train for a little tour of this historic landmark. It was obvious that Tiny Town was the place to be. Children donned Tiny Town t-shirts and hats, adults took numerous Tiny Town family photos, and grandparents watched wistfully as their grandkids ran through the Tiny Town streets. I stood there, in the midst of it all, honestly feeling a tad bit confused. It wasn’t that my experience with Tiny Town was negative; it was just that it seemed to be different than everyone else who was enchanted with Tiny Town. Given that the buildings were all of different scales, there were many wasps, and there wasn’t so much to see, I didn’t feel as though Tiny Town lived up to the hype. We waited a while to get onto the most exciting part of the trip which was the Tiny Town train, a small coal-powered vehicle that tilted slightly to one side every time the tracks curved. We were led along various themed Tiny Town neighborhoods including farming, North Pole, mancave, veterans, and Coney Island. My favorite of all of the creations was a wagon at the top of a hill which read “Tiny Town or Bust.” Once the train ride had finished, my memorable journey through Tiny Town was complete. As it came to an end, I felt a spark inside of me, a little rush of happiness after all I had witnessed. Some part of me was delighted that I came. A part of me began to understand, perhaps, the Tiny Town hype. A little voice whispered into my ear, “The Tiny Town t-shirts only cost 20 dollars.”

I believe that Tiny Town is more than a small town. If you look close enough at the miniature buildings, you see meaning. You see happiness, inspiration, generosity, and, most important of all, you see life. Tiny Town is teeming with life. Tiny Town represents the human experience with all of its color, confusion, and randomness. Just as I was driving away from those beautiful Morrison foothills, I realized that life is complex. Life doesn’t always have an obvious meaning. Life is a jumble of arbitrary experiences and feelings and emotions just as Tiny Town is a jumble of arbitrary buildings. They don’t have to match or have an overall theme. Tiny Town is perfect as it is. I came into Tiny Town a confused child and emerged a fully formed, mature woman. I took an experience that many would write off as strange and unfulfilling and made it into a metaphor for life. I went to Tiny Town looking for little things but, in the end, I found...

Arriving with my boys, ages 6 & 3, I was immediately impressed by the friendly ticket booth worker and found myself pleasantly surprised the remainder of our visit by the geniality of the train engineers, the relative variety of activities, and the cleanliness of the grounds.

A number of the "buildings" have seen better days and aren't impressive by the standard of, say, Disneyland. But as a local diversion at a reasonable cost Tiny Town & Railroad is well worth the time. I did see a couple that did not appear to be paid employees working on one of the small buildings, cleaning the inside and otherwise attending to its maintenance.

To expand on some details and reinforce what you may read or see in the photos, the overall facility is larger than I expected and how appeared from the road. There is a nice area with picnic tables shaded by tall pine trees, as well as another area with tables and benches adjacent to the playground (another pleasant, and very welcome, surprise.)

There is actually a bit of history to Tiny Town, and if you're inclined to be interested in such things as I am, don't miss the photographs documenting key moments on large outdoor displays in the tall pines across the main path near the picnic tables.

The main path iteself is asphalt (wood plank near the train depot/gift shop) which I would imagine makes it very accessible to wheelchairs and strollers, though there are some things that are surrounded by by dirt, rocks, or grass, a detail that might matter if you are visiting soon after a heavy rain or early in the year, since mud could be factor.

Along those lines, the (free) parking is mostly dirt with one main cement path leading the crosswalk that takes you across a 2-lane backroad to the entrance to Tiny Town. I didn't visit the concession stand during our visit. It does appear outside food & drink is permitted from observing other guests with coolers.

All said, from this initial visit I highly recommend Tiny Town & Railroad for families and visitors looking for a low-key, reasonably-priced...

It may be Tiny Town, but it's big fun! Adult tickets are only $5, and train tickets are $4 per person. Free and plenty of parking, too. This is a great place to visit that won't break the bank account!

You're also able to bring your own food in, and there are picnic tables you can sit at towards the back. There are picnic tables in the front, but they're only for customers who buy food there. The food and drinks are priced fairly. They only accept cash, but there is an atm.

There's a gift shop towards the front as well, and those prices are great! They have toys, key chains, sunglasses, and other fun knick knacks. Most are priced $5 and under.

It's fairly easy to look at everything within an hour. The train ride is about 10 minutes. But you can definitely spend about half a day here depending on what you want to do. There's also a playground towards the back, so after you finish looking at all the little structures, your kids can play on the playground while you relax in the shade. Kids can actually go in some of the structures, too, which is a fun little detail.

The staff is beyond friendly, which makes the experience all the better. Some of the little buildings have fun, informative blurbs, or little activities to keep you entertained. The only warning I have is to be aware that you can be done within an hour, as mentioned before. Tiny Town closes at 5, but they stop allowing entry at 4:45. So this could be good if you want to come later in the afternoon; you won't have to worry about rushing or not seeing everything! Tiny Town is one of the cutest attractions Colorado has to offer. Whether you're a Colorado local or a tourist, Tiny Town is...